Organizational Goal for 2009

I am on a roll today with my goals for next year. I figure if I get started a month early, I can get a jump on accomplishing what I set out to do. My aim is to get rid of paper clutter. I just emptied Trinks' backpack which was STUFFED with paper clutter. I then wrote a note to her teacher asking her to restrict access to green striped paper. It is ridiculous how much paper she wasted!!

I have a pretty good handle on the mail. The shredder resides in the front hall. Pictures, however, are a huge issue for me. I don't even print them out anymore. I make digital books instead. They look a lot nicer and if I lose it, I can always print out another one. So for 13 months, I will focus on my pictures and other paper clutter. Now I need to fine tune my health goal and I am all set for New Years!

Restored

At first glance, it appears my iPod is fixed. I can now play more than 2 songs in a row, without a full factory setting restore. Thanks LRNs, I will keep that in mind if I have further problems. LRNs is as much in love with his iPod as I am. He has the Touch now. I don't think I would like the Touch - too fancy for my incompetent technological skills. The 80 GB is the best gift I have ever gotten.

Financial Goal for 2009

I haven't had a specific goal in a while. I just finished reading Dave Ramsey's Total Money Makeover and I am more convinced than ever that the car loan, HELOC and mortgage have to go. I have never been comfortable with the myth of "good debt". I have nightmares about being crushed by our mortgage, and it is less than 1/5 of our take home. I would love to see us completely debt free in 15 years. It sounds tough, but with some careful planning and a lot of budgeting, it can happen.

Total Money Makeover is a great book. Dave tells you upfront he will tell you nothing you don't already know. It's true - I knew everything in the book. He just gives you some great tools to make your financial goals a reality. I realized how much of a mistake the HELOC was 2 years into the loan. Although the car loan isn't big because we put around half down, we probably could have waited until we had a little more to put down to get rid of the debt sooner. And the mortgage? We definitely should have done a 15 year loan. The only thing I can do is a "debt snowball" to clear these things as soon as possible and never make these mistakes again.

So my 2009 financial goal is to make great strides paying down the car loan. Once I get rid of that, the extra cash will go to the HELOC. After that, everything extra will go to the mortgage. And then, I can rest peacefully.

Twelve whole years

Happy anniversary to us. Some days it feels like forever and others it feels like just yesterday we were involved in the hoop de doo of wedding preparations. I have to thank the mothers for putting all that together - planning huge events gives me hives. It turned out perfect, but the process was painful. For our 10th, we went back to the Hotel duPont for a night away from the kids. I think we may try that every 5 years - it's fun to reminisce.

I still have my wedding dress. I loved it, but now what? I did some research about Brides Against Breast Cancer and after the holidays I think I will happily donate my dress. What the heck will I do with it? If Trinks really wants to wear my dress, I have enough pictures of the darn thing to have someone reproduce it. Right now it is rotting away when it could be blessing a new bride who deserves a happily ever after. And it can bring money to fight breast cancer - what could be better?

A fun time was had by almost all

Really fun Black Friday

After breezing through Target, I decided to have some fun with the kids. Back when I used to enjoy the holidays, we used to have dinner at Turkey Swamp Park. It's a great place, and appropriately named for the holiday. Everyone would bring a dish, work together to put the meal together. There was always a nice fire going and after dinner we would occasionally roast marshmallows. Ok - I now realize it was a logistical nightmare to coordinate this, but it made for awesome childhood memories. I didn't know anyone else who rented the shelter in a park and had a wonderful Thanksgiving.



So the kids and I took off for the park. We hit the playground, which is way more awesome than the one they used to have when I was a kid. Then I dragged them on a hike around the lake - or is it a pond? It seems to have shrunk since I grew up. I promised them a stop on the other side to play on a different playground. Depending on what part of the hike, S thought it was either really awesome or a death march. We ran through grassy patches, played shadow tag, chewed on teaberry leaves (used to flavor wintergreen mints), tracked deer, and just plain had fun. And S has officially learned how to pump his legs on a swing, so I didn't quite know what to do while they were on the swings. It was a beautiful, though cold, day. I had fun telling the kids that I learned how to ice skate on the pond. They'll probably never skate on a pond because I'll never buy them skates. Their feet will grow before it ever freezes enough to use them.



So we ended the adventure at Panera with lunch with my mom who had to work today. The good news is my grandmother is doing awesome. She'll probably be released tomorrow. Trinks and I visited her and then arrived back at my parents' house. We were supposed to go to the beach, but ended up at the Christmas store buying wreaths and garlands. It's almost time to leave for the lobster dinner at my sister's house. I'm looking forward to the leftovers from yesterday.

My iPod is sick

I just about had a heart attack last night driving to NJ. I tried to play music for S just to the bridge. Then I would switch to the book on cd I had. The damn thing kept playing 2 songs and then wouldn't work anymore. I was sick. This thing has changed my life for the 11 months I've had it. I listen to it a minimum of 1 hour a day, in the car, while walking, while making dinner, while cleaning the house, etc. It is the best ting I have ever owned.

So tonight I decided to google the problem. If other people are correct, it was a bad synch and either re-synching or restoring the pod will correct the problem. I will wait with bated breath until I can get home and check my settings. But for now, I will listen to my 2 songs, go back to the menu and play 2 more songs. This is the problem of owning things - maintenance!!!

Must fight urge to overspend

Over the past several months, hubby and I have been on a mission to reduce unnecessary spending. Part is due to the economy and the other part is we really want to save a lot more money than we are. It's not a dire situation; just fine tuning a decent system. I think we are finally making great progress. Several children's movies recently came out. Previously, I would have bought them (from Amazon) as soon as they came out. This year, I flung those movies on the kids' wish list. If we don't get them, eventually they will arrive on Netflix or the library. Savings - about $50. I am finally getting over the child having a tantrum feeling of giving in to instant gratification. I can wait to get things after great thought.

Tomorrow (or 45 minutes from now) is Black Friday. I am venturing out to a higher end discount store to finish up my shopping. I have a handful of things I'll buy later, but I think I can finish most everything this weekend. The problem with Black Friday is I am looking through flyers, which I don't see anymore since I cancelled the newspaper. Now I see all the STUFF that's out there. I am actually considering a mad dash through the aisles of several stores to get the "perfect" holiday presents. Ok - time to get back in the zone. I just don't need a lot more crap (and it all is crap since I don't need any of it) in my house. I hope I can retain my focus tomorrow and get what I need (I have a list) and return to my parents to take my kids to the local park. It will probably be deserted.

Pan - $8, 5 Gingerbread people - priceless

My mother planned a great craft for after Thanksgiving dinner. And yes, these gingerbread people are 11.5 inches tall. The kids measured. But, I don't think they included the legs.

S had a good time with his.


C-Dog's creation



Trinks heaped on the icing.



M-Cat was in it for the icing and candy.



And the divine Ms. M and her delicate creation.

Proud to be an American, again

It has been a long 8 years, but I am finally proud to be an American. It has not been fun traveling overseas and admitting I am American. I saw the flags waving in Rock Center and couldn't resist taking a picture to capture my pride.

December

The dreaded month of December is rapidly approaching, no matter how much I don't want it. Historically I have hated this month. There is too much going on because not only do we have both Christmas and Hanukkah, everybody's freaking birthday is in December. We usually have plans every weekend, just not in DE. Thankfully, the price of gas has gone down, or we would have to file bankruptcy just to get through this horrible month. This year, I am trying to change my negative outlook. I am trying to get over my intense hatred of the holidays.

But this year, I have a rare coping mechanism. I have ONE FREE WEEKEND. I refuse to travel this weekend. In fact, weather permitting, hubby is going fishing. I plan to spend the entire weekend decorating the tree, making dozens of cookies, and enjoying my children. There is absolutely NOTHING that will get me to leave the house. Each child will have the opportunity to select types of cookies they want to make and I will make my favorite cookies - Russian Tea Cakes.

I have pleasant memories of Christmas from when I was a child. A few weeks before Christmas, we would start making dozens of different cookies. We were home on Christmas morning and could open our toys without losing every piece. We could relax and hang out with our family over a breakfast of homemade pastries. When I think of Christmas day, I think of the smell of homemade stuffing cooking. I'm sure my mother doesn't have the same warm and fuzzy memories I do because she was working so hard to put the meal together, but it really set the bar for the perfect Christmas in my mind.

These days I have to hope for early dismissal from work. Then I have to run around and pick the kids up, load the car and go to my sister's house and pray I get there in time for dinner. Hubby does not get early dismissal, so he gets to miss dinner and is less than thrilled. Then it's a flurry of activity before we go to my parent's house for the night. Sometimes it's so crazy we forget to hang stockings. The only thing right about Christmas is breakfast. We have monkey bread (ok - it's not my mom's awesome coffee cakes, but at least it's fast and good) and an egg casserole. Then we rush around to get dinner ready before we have to run home to go to work the next day. It completely sucks running around like that.

But, this year I will put forth the effort not to get overwhelmed and try to enjoy the time. It's a tall order, but maybe I'll be a little less like Scrooge this year.

**************After I posted this, I thought about it for a while. I really sound bitter. I'm not really. I know I have a choice whether to show up for holidays or stay home. Once the kids stop believing in the magic of Christmas, I will stop traveling on Christmas. I can't put my parents in the position of having to choose which state they want to be in on Christmas while the kids are so young. I have stopped traveling on Mother's Day unless it suits me. Slowly I will regain control over the nonstop traveling we are expected to do. I'd love to host more family events, but that will never happen. I just feel the most pain in December.

Snow

S has been asking for a snowman every time there has been a mere dusting of snow this week. Finally on Friday, I could scrape together some snow from the car to sort of form a snowman. Then he wanted me to get him a carrot for the nose. Even a baby carrot would have caused the poor thing to topple forward. Then he wanted to bring the snowman to school for show and tell. Ummmm.... no. By the time we got home Friday night, there was a wet spot on the porch. The darn snowman peed before he ran away.

Worried

My grandmother has been sick for about the last month. It started with a sinus infection she just couldn't shake and now she's just not doing well. I know just enough to allow my imagination to run wild, so I'm worried. Hopefully we'll get some answers today and I can stop being worried.

Kung Foo Fighting

Trinks tested for her belt this week, just as my computer was being fixed. I've been itching to write about it because I am so proud of her. Trinks has been studying kung foo for three months now and I am in awe of my child. Here and there I have caught portions of her classes. She's amazing. And yes, I am biased. I am amazed at how patient the instructors are, and how they know how to get the best performances out of the kids.

There were three sections of the test. For Endurance, she had to do sit ups for two minutes. These were knees up, elbows to your knees type up sit ups. Then she had to do a series of push ups - first ones were standard, the second ones we a variation on one handed push ups. Wow - she nailed them both!! She had to stand in a couple of different poses, completely still for set times. I found out she actually CAN be still. Then she had to do kicks - you know, the high kind. She had to kick into her hand, up front, to the side - nothing I could have imagined doing when I was seven. At the end, she had to do the kung foo form. She has been practicing this religiously and did very well. Overall, her score was 94. For endurance, she scored 100, for technical, she scored 88, and for form she scored a 94. Now she is a yellow white belt. Her next test in in February to earn a full yellow belt.

This after school program is the best money I have spent on her education since I sent her to private kindergarten. I can't wait to get S in the program. He is going to be observed this year in buddy days and parents' nights out to see if they will accept him in summer camp. He's a bit young at 4, but the staff knows him and think he might do well. He needs to work on his self confidence and learn to tell Trinks to pound sand when she tries to speak for him.

Kathi update

I haven't updated Kathi is a while. I also haven't talked to her in a while because we have been so busy at work and I know she goes to sleep early. I talked to her husband on Tuesday and he said she is doing much better. She may even get the clearance to drive next week - very exciting. I think I will make calling her a priority tomorrow.

Oh Sugar

Guess what I found in Trinks' cubby at Kung Foo? A bag of sugar! A sandwich bag of sugar! With two spoons. Seriously. She watched as we blamed her brother for stealing the sugar from the sugar bowl. She didn't speak up to defend him. The sugar bowl is now locked up.

Sick

I cannot go to school today, said little Peggy Ann McKay. I have the measels and the mumps, a gash, a rash and purple bumps....

Oh wait! Not that kind of sick. My computer came down with a nasty virus. Without immediate intervention from Nothing Knew, our computer would have died. I am blessed with friends who can help out when I break my stuff. And ones who humor me when I think I am a techno person. Going forward, I will NEVER let my anti-virus stuff expire. NEVER.

So, I am back. I have a few great posts I may get around to posting tonight. A night of heavy drinking last night has wiped me out and may get me to bed pretty early, though. But for now, we are going to eat dinner while watching Underdog.

Shrek the Musical

I recovered from my tantrum Friday night. It's important to note I didn't scream at the kids. I just let everything overwhelm me for a night. I just get so frustrated that we have too many things to take care of that we don't always have enough family time. Yesterday we solved that. We took off at the crack of dawn, stopped at my parents house to dress the kids and got on a bus to NYC.

We saw Shrek the Musical. Previews started last weekend and opening night is December 14. While I didn't leave humming a catchy tune, I thought it was well done. Before we got there, I wondered how Lord Farquaad's size would be handled. The answer, of course, is very humorously. The kids loved it, my parents had a good time and hubby enjoyed hanging out in the city with his brother rather than watching the show. S fell asleep after intermission, which is what he did for Lion King. I guess getting up so early in the AM is the problem. For Mary Poppins, we'll at least start out in the city.

The weather turned out pretty nice, too. The rain stopped while we walked around the city before the show. We saw the unlit tree and the skating rink. And of course, Saks has their famous snowflakes up. They aren't lit, but they are up. We took Trinks for a brief visit to American Girl. S got so excited about a Bitty Baby stove and a pumpkin doll costume. It was pretty funny.




I'll be in NYC again next week, but it's adults only. The only challenge is where to eat. I know I can't go wrong with any restaurant. Narrowing it down is the trick.

Fed Up!

Warning - this is complete whining! I had a really tough day at work. Then I found out Trinks was in trouble at school for the 5th time in 2 weeks - and that's with 2 days off from school! We went out to our favorite place to eat because we haven't been there in ages. We had lukewarm meals and my burger wasn't done right. It wasn't up to the usual standards and I have no desire to go out again for a long time. So, I needed to take action.

Hubby took the kids to the pet store, which is a great, free activity for the kids. I went home and proceeded to box up all the crap in Trinks room. I discovered she cut Jess's hair. There is nothing like spending a shitload of money on a fucking doll just to have the hair cut off. I boxed up American Girl clothes, shoes, horses,whatever Trinks decided she hated enough to leave out of the special 5 drawer dresser I set up for the doll clothes. By the time she got home, I had one side of the room boxed up and she was in tears. I will continue to remove every god damn thing in the fucking room until it is empty. She has too many fucking toys and I hate every one of them right now. Christmas will non existent for the kids because they have too many things. I hate being the caretaker of crap and today really got to me. I feel several trips to Goodwill coming on.

So we have another week of early bedtime for Trinks and iCarly may be permanently banned from her viewing pleasure. I am going to sleep now so I can get out of this funky mood. My kids are really great kids. I want to spend more time with them instead of whining over putting crap away. It's days like this when I wish I could strip the entire house of everything and live with 3 beds, 2 couches and a kitchen. We really don't need much more than that.

Surgery

Today was a productive day. I received a clean bill of health from the endodontist - and no co-pay. I then ventured to the dermatologist. I have been dreading this trip for a while because my imagination has run wild about my freckles and moles. Then I find out I need SURGERY!

I am being dramatic, of course. Two slightly questionable spots will be removed and biopsied. I need a STITCH! Oh the drama. And the kicker is, it's scheduled for my birthday. They offered to reschedule, but I have to work that day anyway. I could use the break. The dr did tell me I wouldn't be able to cook and I would have to go out to dinner. I think we'll try the new burrito place up the street.

Batter blaster

Batter blaster is such a great idea. I have no idea why Bisquick hasn't stolen it. I bought it at Whole Foods yesterday, and although the price is steep, it's still cheaper than going out. It's the same concept as Reddi Whip - push the top and the batter comes out. I amazed my children with Mickey Mouse and triangle pancakes. I would have taken pictures, but it was early in the AM and it was before coffee.

I have big balls

Today I made matzo ball soup. I have never been much of a soup maker, but we had the chicken broth that we made last weekend and it's been cold lately. Matzo ball soup is, hands down, my favorite feel good soup, so I thought I should try my hand at it.

I opened the mix and made one packet of matzo balls. I frowned at it because it looked so little. I opened the other packet and added it. I started rolling it into balls after it sat for a bit in the fridge. I thought they were pretty small. After they finished cooking in boiling water for 20 minutes, they were HUGE! One packet would have been enough.

Trinks liked it, S wouldn't try it and I think hubby liked it too. It was a nice comforting meal after running around the park this afternoon. And the even better news is we are seeing a drop in the grocery bill because we are doing more with the food we have. We saved over $40 this week. Nice!!!

I am worried

While I was gallivanting in Houston, Kathi was taken to the hospital. Tests revealed she has a blood clot in her lung. I received an e-mail from her and another from her husband and nothing else. I'm pretty sure she's going to be fine, but I haven't heard from her so I'm worried. This is not supposed to be happening. DCIS (ductal carcinoma in situ) is the BEST cancer to have. It is easy to cure. Her path has not been easy and I for one am fed up. I am done with cancer. Shoo! Go away!!! Don't come back!

Please keep Kathi in your thoughts and prayers.

If I had a nose full of ... Cheerios?

I swear my son is out to get me. This AM, I took him to Bob Evans. It was just the two of us. We had a great time and then I dropped him off at school. What a wonderful start of the day. When I picked him up, he wanted to snack on the the leftover Cheerios that have been sitting in my car for a couple of weeks. Since I had to go to the grocery store after picking Trinks up, I let him. We finished shopping, got back in the car and headed home.

I heard S crying a little and saying something hurt. I asked Trinks what was wrong and she informed me S shoved a Cheerio up his nose. I dissolved in laughter (I was driving, so there was not much I could do) and could barely breathe. I managed to tell Trinks to block the one side and blow out the other. She helped him and it came out. A horrible thought came into my mind and I screamed, "DON'T EAT IT!!!!!!"

I was too late.

Something funny

I found this link while looking for election stuff. I find this funny for 2 reasons:

1. Kids will be kids and in college my friends and I did similar things, such as steal College Pro signs.
2. Someone actually set up a video camera to see who was stealing it.

BUT, I understand how annoying it is to have people take stuff from the front lawn. One year some kids tried to steal a pumpkin from our front porch. It's not the act that was scary. It was scary because I didn't hear them get that close to the house.

TSA

The TSA people have new, snappy blue uniforms. Same attitudes, new uniform. On the way to Houston, I behaved myself. Philly security is usually humorless and rude. I managed to get through security only to be backed up behind the idiots who think they should get dressed at the conveyor belt. Philly is behind the times and has no line for experienced flyers. I always get stuck behind the people who have no idea how to put their stuff in. I mean, you wait in a line for a bit and they are always surprised when it's their turn. I have to take my shoes off? And my belt? My laptop has to go through in the container and not in my bag? Really? And there are a million signs and announcements and these people think they are better than the rest of us and don't have to comply.

Coming back, there were separate lines for experienced, newcomers and families. Phew. Getting behind people with small children always pisses me off because most of the time these people are clueless and take forever getting the kids shoes off. I'm spoiled because my kids fly so often they know the drill. I managed to get behind 2 idiots who didn't have out id or boarding passes. The TSA guys bypassed them and took me.

I played What can I get away with? A word of caution about this game. You have to be prepared to sacrifice the contraband. I had a water bottle with an inch of water in it. I didn't put my lipstick in a quart bag. I had my pedometer in my pocket while going through the scanner. It was harmless stuff. Nothing happened. It's fun to play this at various airports, to see who is stricter.

Houston

I love going to Houston. I've gone every fall for the past four years. This year I didn't really want to go since it was a whirlwind overnight trip. And I was going to be there on election night. But it ended up being a decent trip.

The first sign of good things to come was the flight out. We flew Southwest, now my most favorite airline. I was number A42 in their goofy line system. I boarded, sat in the aisle while my co-worker took the window. I sat down, buckled up and looked at the front of the plane. The door was closed and we were preparing for take off. There were 50 people on the plane, including crew and pilot. Amazing. The flight attendants roamed the cabin with huge boxes of snack and urged us to take as many as we wanted. We got full cans of drinks, and even a second beverage a couple of hours later. They kept asking if we needed anything. I felt as if we were in first class.

We landed, grabbed our gear and headed into the city to our hotel. It was a beautiful, small, old hotel. There was free internet (hence yesterday's post) and actual keys. Seriously, not a key card, real jangling keys. The rooms were small, but comfortable. My only complaint is the TV remote didn't work. And it wasn't me screwing things up. My co-worker couldn't get his to work either and he's mechanically inclined.

The next morning we started out in the 83 degree weather and walked the three blocks to work. We passed the hurricane damaged buildings on the way. It was hard to contain our excitement about the election, but we couldn't really celebrate because people were a bit somber. I got through five presentations and only started to lose my voice in the last session. I have 4 more to do this week and I think 6 more next week. Ugh! I need lots of tea with honey.

Coming home was another better than first class experience. I took an entire row. I almost always choose the seat over the wing. For some reason, flying where the noise is the loudest is strangely comforting. I flew first class once and it was so quiet, I was scared we lost an engine. Overall, it was a good flight. Between the two flights I finished both library books I brought. At one point, the weather got bad and we started bouncing around. I looked out the window and saw the hideous yellow bridge in slower, lower DE. I believe the official name is the Senator Roth Bridge (this guy was a genius and gave us the wonderful Roth IRAs). Even in the miserable weather, I was able to track where we were.

The weather was pretty miserable for landing. It was the kind of descent that had me calculating my chances of survival if we just dropped out of the sky. And then the pilot did the wing thing that always gets me sick. You know, when he rocks the plane from side to side to drop faster so he can stick the landing? By the time we were on the ground, I was sick. Then we spent about 15 minutes taxiing to an elusive gate.

I was thrilled to on the ground, and even happier to be home. I went into each child's room and kissed them and snuggled them. Neither woke up, but it was nice to see them again! I love going away, but coming home is always the best part of any trip.

WOW!

"Shine on me sunshine, walk with me world it's a zip a dee do dah day! I'm the happiest girl in the whole USA!"

Ok - enough celebrating. Time to face several rooms full of red state people. But I have the Houston Chronicle for today - Wa-hoooooooo!!!!

Getting the hang of this Recession/Depression thing

I impressed myself. I convinced my stubborn hubby that we needed to roast a chicken. He hates chicken on the bone and dark meat. While dark meat isn't my favorite, I'll eat it, and the kids will eat drumsticks. With the price of boneless/skinless chicken breast skyrocketing, I am willing to try something else. Plus, chicken on the bone has a better flavor.

So we roasted a chicken in the convection part of the microwave, and an hour later, we had dinner. It was wonderful. I even made mashed potatoes and rolls and green beans. After dinner, I proceeded to pick it clean, throw water on the carcass and simmered it for hours. We now have homemade chicken stock! I emptied the fridge of old veggies and they simmered right along with the chicken. I can't wait until I get back from Houston to make a proper soup.

With this economy, I need to relearn the lessons of my youth. Learning how to stretch food just makes good sense. I've gotten away from my roots! This is the stuff I watched my grandparents and parents do. I guess I didn't realize money was tight back then, too.